Within Temptation Interview

Camden Sounds caught up with Within Temptation guitarist Ruud Jolie to find out which gear he loves, which guitars rock, and advice for future rock stars.

Which are main guitars that you use live and in studio – we’ve noticed that you use the Mayones guitars.

Yes, I endorse that company, they’re from Poland and I use the Regius model, I have four of them – two seven strings and two six strings with the same pickups, and Within Temptation isn’t a band who wants real different guitar sounds for their songs, and if we do we use different amps and effects and microphones, but I have these four guitars that I use for different tunings and also for backup, and when I’m changing guitars they feel the same and sound pretty much the same. When I do other stuff I also like having real different sounds and different guitars. For on the road with Within Temptation I mainly use the Mayones guitars, but for the studio I use Mayones, but I’m also a Paul Reed Smith fan – I have a couple of those, and a Gibson Les Paul, Ibanez, Fender Strat, and a few others.

 

From Within Temptation the songs quite often go from a huge heavy riff to a cleaner, quiet part.  Which effects pedals are you currently using on this tour?

I use the Taurus Zebu delay pedal, and the T-Rex flanger. That’s pretty much the only effects I use, for the solos I use the delay obviously and for the clean stuff, but my main rhythm sound I don’t use any effects – no reverb, no delay whatsoever. I know the front of house engineer adds a very slight tap delay to make it sound like it’s stereo to get a really big sound. We use three signals, one with a Shure SM57, one with a ribbon mic, and also a line signal that goes to the Line 6 XT Pod Pro and we have a preset with just very high and very low. We use the mid signal from the microphones and the really aggressive highs and lows from the Line 6 signal that works tremendously well just to get that extra bite.

As far as the amps and heads are concerned, you are using Mesa Boogie and Marshall?

Yes, I’m using the Marshall 4x12’s and the Mesa Boogie Rectifier. I like the Mesa sound, to me it’s better for the stuff we do. In the studio Laboga Mr Hector and I have a couple of amps from them. The Mr Hector is the heavy distorted head and The Alligator which is the more vintage sounding combo.

 

There’s a big culture in the UK to have a shed in the garden, and you’ve built a studio in your back garden. I bet your neighbours aren’t too happy about that?

Well it’s at the back and I have a pretty big garden so you won’t be able to hear anything from the house. It’s more important to me that I can do some work late in the evening in my own space. It’s great – wake up, have breakfast, and walk a few metres to the studio.

It’s an Apple Mac based studio – what outboard and which software have you chosen to use in there?

I use the Apogee Ensemble, I have a couple of preamps, the Universal Audio LA-610, and I also use a Neve 1073. I’m a very modern guy and the really big outboard gear is so expensive and to be really honest I prefer working in the digital environment because it’s a lot easier. 

Your studio will be a good place to try out new gear, what’s the coolest thing you’ve tried lately?

I was just telling someone that I have two guitars that I would risk my life for if the house was on fire – that would be my Paul Reed Smith Custom 22 which is a great guitar. I had two Custom 22’s at one time, and they should be exactly the same bit still there was a little bit of a difference. I have a really nice acoustic guitar, the Lowden F32, and I also tried out four different F32’s and the one I chose to me was the best sounding one. The Lowden never leaves the house; it’s my studio acoustic guitar. You can always replace a computer or a preamp, but not your special guitars.

What advice would you give to any guitarist who has dreams of becoming a rock star?

I can’t give anyone advice on how to become a rock star but I can give advice on how to become a better musician. I also teach guitar at a music college with the newer generation. I’m from the generation that when I started to play guitar there was no internet yet, so if there was a song that I wanted to learn I would have to buy a very expensive song book or do it myself. I spent a lot of time just listening to tracks on a CD, sometimes a 30 second solo would take me one week to learn. I can honestly say that I have very good ears now, if I listen to a piece of music I can play it in an instant, and the newer generation has a real problem with that, they say if they want to learn a song they can learn it from the internet.   In response to that I say what if a local band who wants you to join their band asks you to come for an audition, they give you a CD and say learn the first five songs by next week, they’ve got a real problem because they can’t listen and learn. 

What other bands are you listening to at the moment?

I’ve got the new Opeth CD, new Pain of Salvation, the new Steven Wilson solo album, Lamb of God, and that sort of stuff I’m listening to.

Thanks for your time Ruud, have a great gig tonight.

Hey guys, thanks for having me, it was nice to speak to you.

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